There have been many significant inventions that changed the way Essay

There have been many significant inventions that changed the way people live their lives. What, in your opinion, is one signific - Essay Example Thesis Statement - While technological advances such as electricity and the internet improved the lives of people in many ways, they did not really contribute to stopping the continued systematic oppression of more than 50% of the world’s population. The Early Forms of Birth Control In the ancient world, many women and a few men thought seriously about how to create a product that could stop women from conceiving every time they experienced sexual intimacy. It was an understood fact, even then, that continued pregnancies were greatly harmful to the bodies of women. There have been records found to verify that crude forms of condoms were made out of the intestines of animals in ancient Greece. There were also poultices formed from as assortment of strange substances which were used by women. Moreover, most of these methods were unsuccessful in stopping pregnancy. Birth control was viewed as being a taboo subject that ‘respectable’ women would not engage in. ... Birth Control in the Early Days According to Engelman, from 1800 to 1900 in the United States alone, nine out of every 1000 women would lose their lives during childbirth (Engelman, 24). The American government actively discouraged the distribution of any information regarding matters to do with controlling pregnancy or spacing the numbers of children that a woman had. Engaging in such activities was seen as being in support of the propagation of pornographic activities. Moreover, the American government did not say or do much about the many women who were dying on a daily basis during childbirth. As speaking frankly about reproductive matters was something that could be prosecuted under state as well as federal laws of the time, women in the 18th century did not know or understand much as concerning their bodies or reproductive systems. For women’s lives to be improved, they have to be able to control their reproductive lives. In the 18th century, as well as in all centuries prior, there were different methods that some couples resorted to in order to prevent pregnancy. In some families, a married couple would actually visit relatives separately as a way of dealing with the temptation to engage in sexual intercourse. A few couples tried to use abstinence, even when they were living together, to limit the birth of children. Many couples, however, preferred the withdrawal method, or other untested techniques that involved the use of sponges, condoms, cervical caps, and douches. All these methods, though, were not very successful. The majority of sponges and creams even brought serious health-related problems for their users. Abstinence did not work for the most part because it required complete self-denial on the part of the husband. Women, who were well aware of